Various surgical instruments have been developed, particularly for use in arthroscopic surgery, which include a jaw assembly including two elongate members each having opposed jaw members fixed to and projecting generally radially in opposed relationship from adjacent ends; and include manually actuatable means for moving the elongate members relative to each other between an open position with the jaw members spaced from each other, and a closed position with the jaw members closely adjacent each other, such as the instrument described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,752,161.
Known instruments of this type have several disadvantages when used, including a fixed relationship between the direction the jaw members project from the elongate members and a hand grip on the frame of the instrument by which the instrument is handled, which can make the instrument inconvenient to use in certain circumstances; and mechanical or high pressure gas assisted operating mechanisms which respectively limit the smoothness of operation of the operating mechanism or limit the portability of the instrument.